The San Diego-based aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan will participate in the Rim of the Pacific military exercise this summer before the ship relocates to Japan, Navy leaders said Wednesday.

The world’s largest maritime warfare exercise is hosted biennially in June and July in Honolulu by U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet. This year, China is among 23 nations expected to attend, making RIMPAC “bigger than it’s ever been probably,” said Vice Adm. Kenneth Floyd, commander of Third Fleet.

Floyd was asked during a maritime strategy panel session at the three-day WEST 2014 conference at the San Diego Convention Center whether budgetary constraints would make RIMPAC 2014 a shadow of previous years.

Details of who is bringing what among international participants will be announced soon after the lineup is finalized in April, he said.

In 2012, 22 countries attended, a 50 percent increase from two years before. Russia was a player for the first time. China, which is engaged in territorial disputes with Japan and several other American allies in the Pacific, wasn’t invited.

China sent a small contingent to observe the exercise in 1998 but this is the first time its troops and ships are expected to participate.

“For us it’s an opportunity to build trust and confidence with the partners that we will work with when we’re out there. To that extent, having the Chinese participate is very valuable to us,” Floyd said.

As previously announced, the Ronald Reagan is scheduled to change home ports in summer 2015 to Yokosuka, Japan, replacing the George Washington as the only U.S. flattop permanently stationed outside the United States.

The George Washington is being recalled to Virginia for an overhaul. Except for repair work, the Ronald Reagan has been based in San Diego since 2004, the year after it was commissioned.